Prince Arjuna faces a dilemma that troubles many people sooner or later — whether to take action that is necessary but morally ambiguous. The difference is that Arjuna’s action is to wage war against his own family. With the armies arrayed, Arjuna loses his nerve. Krishna, his charioteer and incarnation of divine consciousness, begins to teach him about the nature of God and of himself. Arjuna learns that he can attain liberation through union with God, and that there are several possible paths to this goal. This most famous and revered of Hindu scriptures tells the timeless story of the paths of knowledge, devotion, action, and meditation. Stephen Mitchell’s acclaimed translation, read by him for the first time, brings this ancient story to life and shows how it became the seed for all the Hindu systems of philosophy and religion that followed.
